The Philadelphia Flyers’ back-to-back woes continue. After a 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-2) defeated the Flyers (5-3-2) on Wednesday, 5-2. The Maple Leafs were looking to make a statement after their four-game losing streak and that’s what happened. The Flyers have now lost three straight games.
Sandstrom still searching for first win
Felix Sandstrom started between the pipes for Philadelphia on Wednesday night. After saving 35/36 shots on Tuesday versus the Rangers, Carter Hart was given a deserved day off.
Sandstrom made his third start in 2022-2023, the eighth of his NHL career. Saving 39/44 attempts, Sandstrom left Toronto without his first NHL win:
“Felix played great, we gotta help him out here. He’s had three starts and we’ve let him out to dry. Gotta get him a win here.”
Scott Laughton; 11/2/2022
Sandstrom made key saves at critical moments, but the Flyers’ offense didn’t have enough in the tank to support their backup. For the third time in their last five games, the Flyers have been held to two goals or less.
1/6 on the PP
The Flyers had plenty of opportunities to light the lamp by going on the powerplay six times, but they could only capitalize on one of them. Owen Tippett broke the powerplay seal after receiving a crisp pass from Travis Konecny to beat Ilya Samsonov in the third period.
The Flyers got off to a 1-0 lead in the first period, courtesy of Joel Farabee. It was his 99th career NHL point. He also has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games.
The Maple Leafs went 2/5 on their powerplay. A goal from Auston Matthews on the powerplay in the first period caused the Flyers to lose some of their momentum:
“We score first, but then we have three penalties in the first [period], you kind of lose momentum that way. It’s a number of things, I thought the effort was there. Execution probably could have been a little bit better but we have some things to clean up.”
Joel Farabee; 11/2/2022
Tortorella takes positives away
John Tortorella was able to take positives away from both consecutive overtime losses on Saturday and Tuesday. In a regulation loss, he was able to do the same, but only with some players:
“I’m not going to name names. I’m really happy about how some guys, their effort tonight, how they handled certain situations. But on the other side, there’s some situations that absolutely disgust me. Those are the things we have to work through.”
John Tortorella; 11/2/2022
John Tavares’ second goal of the night was certainly one for the highlight reel. Tortorella had little to say postgame about the goal and what Travis Sanheim could have done in the position he was in:
“I’m not speaking of it. You can watch it. I mean, it speaks for itself, it speaks for itself. So leave it that way.”
John Tortorella; 11/2/2022
Next Up
The Flyers will conclude their road trip this Saturday when they take on Claude Giroux and the Ottawa Senators at 7pm.
(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
